The present invention relates to packaging in general, and more particularly to packaging boxes for accommodating various items or goods, especially during transportation and/or for display.
Various packaging boxes and shipping containers are known, among them ones that are especially equipped in one way or another for the shipping of items or goods in a protective manner. For instance, sensitive items such as electronic equipment are oftentimes shipped in regular parallelepiped corrugated cardboard boxes, but, in order to protect the items from potentially damaging shocks and vibrations while in transit, the items are often supported on blocks or specially molded formations of foamed polyurethane that hold the items at a distance from the panels forming the box and suppress the transmission to the items of any impacts, shocks, vibrations and/or other forces to which the box itself may be subjected.
Protecting items in this manner contributes to the cost of the packaging material and operation and thus to the cost of the item. Various other techniques have been proposed to achieve similar protection in a less expensive way, such as using box-shaped cardboard inserts to keep the item at a distance from the box panels, foamed polyurethane pellets or beads, or the so-called bubble-wrap sheets. All of these approaches, however, have certain drawbacks, be it their cost or the inadequacy of their supporting or cushioning action, or the failure by packing personnel to find or use the appropriate protective materials.